A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
The 59th Annual Country Music Association Awards were held in Nashville last night. Some of the big names up for awards were Luke Combs, Ella Langley, Morgan Wallen and Lainey Wilson, who also hosted.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "RING FINGER")
LAINEY WILSON: (Singing) I got the ring. He got the finger.
MARTÍNEZ: Audrey Gibbs covers the Nashville music scene for the newspaper The Tennessean and she was at the awards. Audrey, you lucky duck, you got to go. So who won? Any surprises?
AUDREY GIBBS: Yeah, Lainey Wilson was really one of the big winners of the night. She took home three awards, including Entertainer of the Year, which is the big honor of the night. Ella Langley was another big winner. She also took home three awards - Single of the Year, Song of the Year, Music Video of the Year - for her track "You Look Like You Love Me" with Riley Green.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "YOU LOOK LIKE YOU LOVE ME")
ELLA LANGLEY: (Singing) Excuse me, you look like you love me.
GIBBS: I would say the big surprise was kind of up-and-coming country rock band The Red Clay Strays dethroned Old Dominion for Vocal Group of the Year. Old Dominion has won seven years in a row.
MARTÍNEZ: Wow.
GIBBS: So Red Clay Strays made some big waves last night.
MARTÍNEZ: Wow. You know, and the funny thing is that I'm looking at the nominations and a lot of women. I mean, are women in country music having a moment here?
GIBBS: One hundred percent yes. We had nominees leading the pack with six nominations each, and it was Lainey Wilson, Megan Moroney, Ella Langley. All women leading the nominees. And I think that it's a really important time where the pendulum is kind of swinging back towards women in country music when there's really not been representation for a lot of women. Country radio airplay for female artists was at 8.4% last year. So it's not been dominated by women for...
MARTÍNEZ: No, yeah.
GIBBS: For a little bit.
MARTÍNEZ: Well, historically - right? - country music has been really, really male-dominated. I mean, so when it comes to this inclusivity, what do you think that means in country music?
GIBBS: You know, I think that it means we are getting somewhere for inclusivity in country music. I think that we are a little bit behind when it comes to representing all artists in country music. It's one of those things that has just taken a while. Every year we're getting more genre blending in country music, right? We're seeing artists like BigXthaPlug performing on the stage.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "PRAY HARD")
LUKE COMBS: (Singing) 'Cause she pray hard.
BIGXTHAPLUG: (Rapping) I really made it. I'm still thanking the Lord 'cause we was really out here hurting. All we knew was up the score. We was trying to figure it out.
GIBBS: We're seeing trap beats in country music now and hi-hats. And we're mixing kind of contemporary Christian music also into country music. So I think the genres are blending more and more, and we're seeing more female representation.
MARTÍNEZ: And then Beyonce's "Cowboy Carter." Post Malone, too. I mean, yeah, it seems like country music is trying to throw a wider net out there.
GIBBS: It is a wider net. I think we're seeing more representation when it comes to performers and who's kind of being welcomed into the genre, who's throwing their hat in the ring of country music. But then if we're looking at the artists who are taking home the big awards, it feels like they're all pretty cemented in that classic country sound.
MARTÍNEZ: Absolutely. Audrey Gibbs is the music reporter for The Tennessean. Audrey, thanks a lot.
GIBBS: Thank you.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "NOSEDIVE")
POST MALONE: (Singing) But there's still beauty in the nosedive. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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